Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

apnews.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 286 posts

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#161

Post by kbos87 »

fragmede wrote: post #122
_aavaa_ wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your article doesn't contradict their argument. Their link is for worldwide sales, yours is US only. Further, that top spot is not for a specific Ford truck, but for all F-series trucks put together. That's an apples to oranges comparison.

it doesn't. it just depends on how you slice the pie to see what you want to see.

Yeah, but there are standard ways to slice the pie. An equivalent approach would be comparing multiple Ford vehicles to Tesla’s entire lineup. They are about as similar to one another as Ford’s trucks are.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#162

Post by dmix »

jonnycomputer wrote: post #45
dmix wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US domestic manufacturing became a major theme in the last two prior US elections. If you look at growth charts in US factory capital it started spiking just before the signing of CHIPS act which was pitched to congress in 2019, which was a bipartisan effort seeded from the Trump admin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act And the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which Biden admin pitched to cong…

Yes, but the CHIPS act was also signed by Biden. I think we can fairly credit him for seeing it through. Trump talked a lot about bringing manufacturing back, but he did not have the self-discipline to actually see any of it through; legislatively, Trump is a master of self-sabotage. But it is true that the CHIP had bipartisan support, but the ones who supported it were not MAGA types, but people like McConnell.

Trump was the first president with no political, military, or even lawyer experience. And it showed, badly, when it came to congressional policy making.

But he no doubt was a major reason domestic manufacturing shot to the top of Biden's election priorities, after it was a major sticking point that Trump fared far better with the working class vs Hillary.

Even Michael Moore conceded back then that his messaging around rebuilding gutted industry was far better, so it's not surprising it was co-opted.

Which is a good thing, what matters is listening to people and getting results at the end of the day.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#163

Post by dmix »

seadan83 wrote: post #97
dmix wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US domestic manufacturing became a major theme in the last two prior US elections. If you look at growth charts in US factory capital it started spiking just before the signing of CHIPS act which was pitched to congress in 2019, which was a bipartisan effort seeded from the Trump admin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act And the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which Biden admin pitched to cong…

> Or worse wasted a ton of time & money of local govs + small town employees. The Obama admin had a few really bad examples of this. Indeed. China had even more examples, but overall they found the winners and boosted them. The US instead defunded and now China produces 80% of all solar panels in the world. It's similar for VC firm, for example, they'll invest in 10 companies and expect only a couple to be profitable…

You can find the growth charts here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/unpacking-th...

but these charts/analysis come from the White House so they are going to be a bit biased (how much is proposed vs real, etc).

I don't really see the value in debating the details of the policies as it's pretty clear Trump made rebuilding industry his #1 message, which was later co-opted by Biden in the 2nd election. Trump was just an utter failure at working with (a very hostile) congress and COVID destroying factory construction didn't help private industry either, or public spending priorities.

I also take issue with the idea China's success in manufacturing was a result of the gov choosing winners = a good thing. Gov as a giant VC sounds like a horrible idea, here in Canada they tried that in tech and it was an embarrassment. China's mass urbanization, huge cheap labour base, a culture of hard work, and the West happily destroying their own industry...it's easy to 'pick' winners in a flush market.

Rebuilding a dead one is different story.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#164

Post by nebula8804 »

mp05 wrote: post #88
nebula8804 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should unionize. In fact UAW wants to unionize all automakers including Tesla and the ones in the south. They failed in the past but with the downward trajectory of population size, there is a great opportunity here. Now you might say they will just leave the US and manufacture elsewhere. Well thats where tariffs come in and the UAW is a core voting block so they will have to alter any plans to move to Mexico. H…

> They should unionize No one at these Toyota facilities has an appetite for that. The benefits package and overall lifestyle for a TMMK worker is quite nice compared to the average person in the Lexington metro and the jobs are competitive. Perhaps ironically, when I was in school, the biggest issue was finding engineers that would accept the pay which was generally lower than guys on the floor.

Well just 20 mins ago we heard that the majority of people at the VW plant in Tennessee signed UAW cards. Now this wont guarantee a successful vote but it makes the leadership give an honest attempt so maybe times might be changing for the Toyota plants as well.

[1]:https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/4454085-uaw-says-m...

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#165

Post by FirmwareBurner »

bryanlarsen wrote: post #156
FirmwareBurner wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Hyundai EV9 despite not being expensive It starts at €70k. In what world is this not expensive? Maybe in Bay Area Fang wages.

Sorry, typo. It being very expensive makes the wait-lists surprising. If it wasn't expensive wait-lists wouldn't be surprising.

> It being very expensive makes the wait-lists surprising.

Does it? Ferraris, Zondas and Koenigseggs also have big waiting lists.

Expensive things to the well off sell easier than average products to the ever shrinking middle class.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#166

Post by coryrc »

explaininjs wrote: post #134
rootusrootus wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this source says Model Y was #2 and RAV4 #3. https://wolfstreet.com/2023/12/07/tesla-model-y-is-2-us-best... My point stands, Model Y sales are matching RAV4 sales, for all practical purposes. And it happened in the space of a couple years. Toyota sells a lot of cars, but they're not the undisputed king of the hill. Also, not all RAV4s are hybrids. Model Y definitely outsold RAV4 hybrids. Though hybrids aren't an…

Why are we restricting ourselves to Rav4's? Toyota sells well over 2 million EV's per year, far more than all Teslas. And yes, HEV's are EV's the same way BEV's are. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1181404/alternative-sale...

The vast majority of Toyota hybrids cannot be powered by electricity from the grid. I'd say that's a significant difference.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#167

Post by oohffyvfg »

ActorNightly wrote: post #159
brandonagr2 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Toyota's plans makes you think they will ever catch up to everyone else with EVs?

I could walk in and buy Model Y any time I want. Not so with Rav 4 Prime. Plugin hybrids are the future.

tesla fans defending how easy it is to find a Tesla in stock is a new one. grand.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#168

Post by oohffyvfg »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #149
sandworm101 wrote: post #138

>> Environmental groups have long criticized Toyota for being slow to move toward fully electric vehicles, instead clinging to gas-electric hybrid technology. When you run a company as large and old as Toyota, you always hedge your bets. There are some other options to battery-powered electric vehicles (hydrogen IC). They are currently not as mature but anyone running something as big as Toyota needs to hedge against…

Bet hedging would’ve meant introducing the BZ4X years ago. Instead, there were 8 years between when Toyota announced their first hydrogen car and their first electric vehicle. This if an example of simply betting wrong.

hydrogen was the right bet for trucks and buses. they are planning hide infrastructure in Asia.

the world is not only southern California and Sweden.

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#169

Post by DanielSantos »

sandworm101 wrote: post #138

>> Environmental groups have long criticized Toyota for being slow to move toward fully electric vehicles, instead clinging to gas-electric hybrid technology. When you run a company as large and old as Toyota, you always hedge your bets. There are some other options to battery-powered electric vehicles (hydrogen IC). They are currently not as mature but anyone running something as big as Toyota needs to hedge against…

Exactly. Toyota's CEO also explained a few weeks ago that they need to build cars for the whole world. Many countries are not ready yet with infrastructure for electric cars.

I would also add since insurance companies don't want to insure the transportation of batteries in container ships, it makes it difficult for Toyota to produce electric cars in all regions, it would mean they would always need to have a battery factory nearby. https://toyotatimes.jp/en/toyota_news/1055_1.html#anchorTitl...

Re: Toyota to invest $1.3B in Kentucky factory to build battery packs and new EV

#170

Post by dalyons »

oohffyvfg wrote: post #168
aaronbrethorst wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bet hedging would’ve meant introducing the BZ4X years ago. Instead, there were 8 years between when Toyota announced their first hydrogen car and their first electric vehicle. This if an example of simply betting wrong.

hydrogen was the right bet for trucks and buses. they are planning hide infrastructure in Asia. the world is not only southern California and Sweden.

I’m willing to bet hydrogen was the wrong bet for busses too, esp in Asia given the explosion of BEV tech and production coming out of china.
Post reply on HN